After several years of standstill, it has relaunched its public service from 1st Baisakh 2070. Sajha Yatayat is a cooperative public transportation organization which was established in 1961/1962 to provide efficient and affordable public transportation to commuters in Kathmandu Valley, as well to inter-district travelers. In the last decade, the organization suffered some institutional turbulence
, but now it has been revived, with the participation of the Government of Nepal, as a cooperative organization. Our goal is to provide public transportation that is efficient, transparent and professional in terms of service delivery. Our mission statement is as follows: "To be the leading transport agency providing affordable, efficient and safe mode of urban and inter-district public transportation services in Nepal, as well as flag-carrier cross border service to regional cities." Our initial task in reviving services is to concentrate on relieving the traffic congestion in Kathmandu Valley, in a manner that will help commuters while at the same time helping the economy and the environment. We seek to provide exemplary service, seeking to extend it to other players in the transport sector by developing a network that has the interests of the public at its heart. Beyond this, we seek to expand services to include the districts, as well as flag-carrier services to cities in neighboring countries. We hope to work within the goals set by the Government of Nepal and in cooperation and coordination with the private sector transport companies, to provide quality public service service transport to the citizens of Nepal.
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Traffic congestion in Kathmandu Valley has become serious with frequent standstill of traffic for extended periods. This has significant costs in terms of lost time, missed appointments, needless wastage of fuel, obstructed commerce, air pollution and journeys that do not take place.Kathmandu Valley is in the phase of massive urbanization, with the population expected to go up from the current 3 million to 4 million within a handful of years. With the increase in population, the vehicle ownership is also increasing, with the motorcycle being the major choice (74 %) in overall vehicle composition in the Valley. Car ownership is expected to increase as residents switch from motorcycles to four-wheelers. The major reason for this reliance on self-driven vehicles is the lack of coordinated public transport, even though there is significant provision of bus, micro-, mini-bus and three-wheeler service by private operators. The lack of coordination as well as the absence of publicly owned bus transportation to set the standard has meant that the public has not been served optimally. Services desperately need to be improved, in terms of scheduling, punctuality, affordability, security and comfort. Special efforts must be made to make public transport more easily accessible to the handicapped, women, the elderly and children. It is in this context that efforts are being made to revive Sajha Yatayat and serve the high ideals of public transportation. As a cooperative that was established in the year 1961/1962 to provide efficient and affordable mass transportation options to the Nepali public, Sajha Yatayat provided the yardstick of public transportation for about three decades. In the 1990s, the company slowly weakened and ultimately confronted major operational problems to the extent that the buses stopped running. Realizing the need for a clear policy for managing urban transport in a context of rapid population growth and urban development, in mid-2011 a strategy to revive Sajha Yatayat was developed and implemented by the Board of Sajha Yatayat in coordination with the Government's Ministry of Labour and Transport. The Annual General Meeting convened with this strategy took significant decisions and reverted the organization to its genuine cooperative status, with the election of the majority of the Board members (five out of seven) by election from the general body and two members ex-officio from the government (representing the Department of Road Transportation and Department of Cooperatives). Thus, conditions were created for independent decision-making and running of the organization while remaining close to the government's own goals of providing safe, secure and affordable public service transportation.
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Over the first half of 2012, Sajha Yatayat also initiated discussions numerous stake-holders and support organizations with a goal of providing safe, efficient, reliable urban bus transport within Kathmandu Valley, in line with its short-term objectives. The discussions have been held with the World Bank, Asian Development, the Town Development Fund, as well as Registrar Department of Cooperative, the Department of Transport Management, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City the Patan Metropolitan City, various private bus operators in the Valley and others. Among other things, the discussion have dealt with human resource development, revenue collection and monitoring, bus route optimization, inclusiveness and disable-friendly public transport, cooperation with the private sector through 'clustering', planning for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and so on.
